CENSUS OF HALLUCINATIONS – THE 4TH DIMENSION (Falling A Records) (2024 reissue)

The 4th Dimension' uses, as ever, a healthy sprinkling of sampling, effects, narrative and programming to create a veritable feast of musical cornucopia.  Tim Jones' thoughtful guitar playing and Terri Burgess’s harmony vocals are, as always, essential to the band's full sound. On this welcome remastered reissue, they are accompanied by Dave Pipkin and a bass player (Rabbit) as well as a keyboard player, Steve Ellis. Census of Hallucinations will employ just about any musical medium to get their message across. The tight rhythm section and Terri B's excellent backing vocals on 'The Judas Kiss' approximate soul and the 'rave' inclinations of 'Give Us Back Our Heaven' constitute a very significant 1 minute and 40 seconds as a plea goes out to the master builders to come back and save us for there's 'madness and hell here on Earth'; they also manage to squeeze in a tender love song, 'Know This'. Titles like ‘Carry an Attractive Crystal Door Knob Around with You’ show the Gong/ Zappa connections evident in the music in a an electronic trancey number with spacey synth. The message in ‘Clone’ about the dangers of becoming addicted to mobile phone technology is more relevant today than ever.